Welcome to the weekly round-up of national critics’ restaurant reviews by Oliver Thring.
‘This is the most disconcertingly odd restaurant you may ever visit,’ says Matthew Norman at The Evesham Hotel in Worcestershire. The ‘Basil Fawlty’-esque owner was ‘wearing a wooden tie with a teddy bear hanging from its base’ and the room was ‘all ugly, thick carpet and drab yellow wallpaper’. Roquefort and fig brûlée was ‘glorious’, though, and chicken in sweet and sour sauce was ‘subtle and spicy’. Norman ‘hasn’t a clue whether to recommend it or warn you off’, but this is a cracking review.
Zoe Williams ‘totally loved’ Manson, which is getting consistently impressive reviews. Steak tartare was a ‘triumph’, cod with spinach ‘gave an unerring impression of silk’, and a piece of brill was ‘subtly sweetish and subtly intense’. Williams is the first critic to try the bonkers-sounding Jerusalem artichoke cheesecake: surprisingly, ‘it was incredible from top to bottom’.
A. A. Gill is at the Dean Street Townhouse, where ‘the lighting is so low, you worry you’re getting a brain tumour’. ‘The food is good enough … without showing off’: salt beef was ‘gratifyingly sodden and meaty’, while the infamous mince and potatoes was ‘replete with juicy flavour’. The prices are ‘expensive, but far from exorbitant’, although the place ‘may be too clever by half’.
Jasper Gerard thinks he’s found ‘a better class of Turkish’ in Tike. Perde pilavi was ‘fabulous’, but pacangha borek had ‘all the soggy appeal of a Chinese pancake’. A lamb adana kebab was ‘so long you could float down the Bosphorus on it’, and though ‘overwhelming’, was ‘tender and flavoursome’. The restaurant may be ‘familiarly Western’, but it’s ‘not bad for a light snack’.
Jay Rayner says there’s ‘no doubting the quality of the cookery’ at The Pipe & Glass Inn, East Yorkshire. The pricing is ‘keen’, too: sirloin with jellied salt beef salad (which sounds bloody delicious) was only £17.95, and mutton and pearl barley broth cost a mere £3.95. The Michelin-starred pub is ‘a class act’.
Marina O’Loughlin ‘effortlessly spends a ton’ in the ‘very pretty’ Babbo, Mayfair. The signature lasagne is ‘so rich it’s the Trump of pastas’, and Acquarello risotto is ‘luscious’. The room is full of non-Londoners, and the place offers ‘excellent people-watching fun’.
‘It’s a dream’, says Giles Coren of the Empress of Sichuan. ‘Lantern Shadow Beef’ was ‘insanely morish’, 1,000-year-old egg was ‘lovely’ and ‘easy’, and pork came with ‘comical amounts of garlic and chilli’. ‘This is a top-class Chinese restaurant’.
And Niamh Shields of Eat Like a Girl inaugurates her ‘Posh Lunch Club’ at Arbutus. Her blog’s latest series will investigate set menus in the capital’s finest; this was ‘a very good lunch for a very good price’ (£16.95). Country terrine was ‘delicate and velveteen’, caillette (a pork meatball) was ‘rich and savoury’ with ‘delicious’ crushed swede, and polenta olive oil cake was a ‘nice and light’ pudding.